Karna Charitram: Yoganjali Natyalayam’s Purificatory Offering to the Guru

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CATHARSIS THROUGH ART

Karna Charitram: Yoganjali Natyalayam's Purificatory Offering to the Guru

 

 

The turmoil and troubles of daily life encrust the spirit, producing a leaden sensitivity and heaviness of soul which makes existence a burden. The American Transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) said: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Through human history this miserable haze has been cleansed by various forms of participatory art: literature, poetry, music, drama, dance, and other exercises which refine, elevate and define the human experience. One of the most sublime manifestations of the artistic impulse and its power of catharsis is the ancient temple dance of South India: Bharata Natyam.

 

The subtle suggestive nature of emotional and narrative expression through Mudra in gestures of hands, feet, body, face, eyes and head foster a communication deeper than words. The Bharata Natyam artist does half the work. The audience must do the other half. Spiritual ideals saturated with emotion (Bhava) enable noble modes of behaviour to soak deeply into the soul. Through Mudras and a body strong and skilled, moving within well defined limits of space and time-rhythm, energy-Mandalas are created. These ancient movements resonate with the geometric forms associated with the five Chakras (vortices of energy) in the Pranamaya Kosha (known also as the Auric Body or Vital Body or Electromagnetic field) which animates and vivifies the human organism.

 

Primordial, mystic emotions, such as longing for the Lost Union with the Cosmic Oversoul

, are the primary root source of the Bhava (emotional expression) of most Bharata Natyam performances, The universal human dilemma, realizing the purpose of the transitory embodied existence, is contemplated through mystic symbolism. Human experiences – love, hatred, loneliness, greed, need, conflict, joy, sorrow, mirth, comradeship, gain, loss, generosity, loyalty, human virtues and vices are the source material for the portrayal of the eternal human quest.

 

 

Participating in this ancient temple art, either as performer

(The Seen-the Dhrishya) or as the audience (The Seer or The Dhrishta) provides an excellent catharsis for the often overwhelming accumulation of miseries of day-to-day life. The heroes of Hinduism – Lord Rama, Krishna and Arjuna amongst others, are the embodiment of the ancient Indian value system. Hence, they serve as role models and guides for action in the predicaments which all men face in their daily lives. The enactment of old, well-known stories using dance and music is a sacred offering, a purification, and an experience akin to bathing in the sacred Ganges.

 

More than 1000 persons experienced the power of this sublime artistic catharsis on August 19th

in Pondicherry as they witnessed the two-and-one-half hour Bharata Natyam Dance Drama Karna Charitram presented by Pondicherry's Premier Institute of Yoga, Bharata Natyam and Classical Carnatic Music, Yoganjali Natyalayam. Hardly an eye in that vast audience remained without a tear, as the pathos of the life story of Karna, the unsung hero of the Mahabharata, unfolded scene by scene towards its tragic climax. The elegant lyrics, intricate choreography, the superb costuming exquisite music and professional level musicians combined with the dancing skills of the sixty school children, under the direction of Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani and Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, created a magic realm where time stood still. The audience was literally transported back to an era in which kings were heroic and virtue was its own reward. Karna, according to Director Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani, is the personification of the quandary of every human: ignorance of one's own true identity. Brought up as the adopted son of a charioteer, Karna was in fact of both Divine and royal lineage as a son of Surya, the Sun God, and Kunti, the princess. Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani said Karna's pathetic state was similar to that of every human being who believes themselves to be mere mortals when in actual fact, they are Gods.

 

 

 

Karna Charitram

 

The entire Dance Drama was unique and original to Yoganjali Natyalayam. Music was composed by Nada Yoga Shironmani Shri S.V. Jagadesan and Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani with appropriate Ragas for every mood. The Tamil Lyrics were penned by Tamil Jnana Shironmani Pulavar I. Pattabhiraman. English explanations in poetic form were by Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani. The choreography was a joint effort of Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani, Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani and Smt Devasena Bhavanani.

 

 

The main characters were superbly portrayed by young school girls: S. Ghayathri, Age 12, played Karna to perfection. Arjuna was eloquently enacted by Shreya Agrawal age 11. The role of Duryodhana was beautifully enacted by S.S. Lothikha, age 14. The cunning Krishna came alive in the artistry of I. Krishnaveni age 16. The dramatic skills of all the sixty young artists were so excellent that the audience totally forgot that they were watching a drama and instead felt that they were witnessing the tragic events and conflicts of Karna's life.

 

 

The Karna Charitram was presented by Yoganjali Natyalayam as part of the ongoing Centenary Jayanthi Celebrations of Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri (1907-1993), Madathipathy of Sri Kambliswamy Madam and the Founder of Yoganjali Natyalayam. Special Guests of the Drama were sixteen Senior Yogacharyas / Yogacharini of the Gitananda Yoga / Rishiculture Ashtanga Tradition from Spain, Australia, England, Wales, Portugal, France, Finland, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Canada, and India.

 

Smt. Rajsri Vasudevan Avl., Lecturer in Philosophy, Head of Department of Natya, MGR Janaki College

, Chennai. Disciple and Representative of Padmabushan Dr. Padma Subramanyam Avl., was Chief Guest of the evening along with Shri A. Muralidharan Avl., Eminent Auditor, Chartered Accountant, Chennai. Smt Rajsri Vasudevan received on behalf of Smt. Dr. Padma Subramanyam the award "Bharata Nritya Kala Shironmani"

 

In her speech Ms Rajsri said the Karna Charitram was a splendid, perfect effort by a team of more than 100 persons. As an artist of eminence herself, she noted the difficulty of undertaking and successfully completing such a project with so many participants and praised Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani and Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani for their dedication to spiritual art and excellence. "So engrossing, absorbing and perfectly executed was Karna Charitram", she said, "I literally could not move from my seat!"

 

Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani said that Karna was the epitome of the great rare qualities of generosity, loyalty, fidelity, heroism and Yogic skill in action. She said that Karna had been chosen as the theme of the drama as the very qualities which he manifested so perfectly were also those central to the life of Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri, Guru of the Institute. Yoganjali Natyalayam has produced a full length Bharata Natyam Dance Drama every year since 1993, the year in which Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri attained Samadhi.

 

 

The celebration of the Centenary Jayanthi of Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri began on July 24

th 2007 with a private concert by world famous Carnatic vocalist Padma Bhushan Thiru TV Sankaranarayanan of Chennai at ICYER. Events have been held continuously since then with an elaborate Guru Puja on Guru Purnima on July 29

th, a two-week visit by eighteen Gitananda Yoga teachers and students from Italy and a seven-day Centenary Seminar for Senior Teachers of Gitananda Yoga Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga August 15th to 22

nd at ICYER attended by sixteen teachers from twelve countries. The highlight to date has been the Karna Charitram on August 19th. Events will be held throughout 2007-2008 as part of the International

Celebrations honoring the contribution of this Great Guru to the modern Yogic movement, Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani, Director, Yoganjali Natyalayam, ICYER said.-- Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi BhavananiChairmanICYER and Yoganjali NatyalayamPondicherry, South Indiawww.icyer.comwww.geocities.com/yognat2001